Even with last month’s dramatic shake-up at the top of the Democratic ticket, political organizer Amanda Litman’s attention has remained on the party’s down-ballot races. “It’s not hard to stay focused on our mission, because I think it’s even more important now than it was before,” says the co-founder of Run for Something (RFS), a nonprofit that endorses, mentors, and offers financial support to first-time progressive candidates running for state and local offices across the country. Litman has learned that championing “some of the best and brightest young leaders of the party” for positions in state legislatures, city councils, county commissions, and school and library boards has a “reverse coattails” effect that boosts young-voter turnout and benefits the top of the ballot.
Litman’s activism began early, when she cut class in high school to go hear then-Senator Barack Obama speak. An unpaid college internship for his 2012 presidential-reelection campaign followed and turned into a full-time job doing online fundraising. After a stint as the digital director for a Florida gubernatorial candidate, she became Hillary Clinton’s email director in 2015, managing her presidential campaign’s digital fundraising and volunteer recruitment. Next came RFS, which Litman launched with Ross Morales Rocketto on Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day.
Over the last seven years, the organization has backed over 3,000 rookie candidates, helping to elect more than 1,000 to office. Representative Jasmine Crockett of Texas and Representative Yadira Caraveo of Colorado, whom RFS supported during their first state House races, are among its success stories. Now, Litman is focused on the 400-plus political aspirants RFS is endorsing this year who, if elected, can be a bulwark at the state level against efforts to curtail abortion access, roll back LGBTQ+ rights, enact book bans, and other far-right ideas. “The nuts and bolts of building political power isn’t flashy,” says the strategist. “But it’s inspiring to cultivate politicians who will make a difference.” Litman lives in Brooklyn with her therapist husband, their toddler, and their rescue dog. Here’s how she gets it done.
On her morning routine:
I am seven months pregnant and have a 20-month-old daughter, Jo, so my mornings are a little chaotic. I tend to wake up around 6:30 and look at my phone for a little while in bed. I read newsletters, look at social media, do Wordle and Connections. Usually, I walk the dog while my husband gets Jo up. But lately, with the heat wave and how pregnant I am, we’ve been swapping. So I get her out of bed and feed her. After my usual breakfast — eggs on gluten-free toast with chili crisp, and coffee — I play with Jo and get her ready for day care, which my husband takes her to. Depending on how I’m feeling — pregnancy has really complicated this a bit — I try to work out, maybe Peloton, maybe yoga. Or I take a shower and watch TikToks.
On a typical workday:
I work from home and am basically on the phone or Zoom from 9:30 a.m. until we pick my daughter up from day care. I manage the members of our executive team, who oversee our comms and development and tech programs, as well as check in with our amazing chief of staff. We’re all remote and work a four-day week. My incredible executive assistant, Kayley Rodriguez, is on top of all my scheduling. They make sure I have the right information before conversations with reporters, and a lot of donors. I am also a voracious reader of basically every report that our staff puts together, especially the folks working directly with campaigns. I may have meetings, so I’ll jump on the subway to see a donor, a partner, and sometimes a candidate we’re working with or an alumnus. I’m pretty available but try to set firm boundaries, especially from 5 to 7:30 p.m. That’s family time.
On the drink that gets her through the day:
I go through probably like five or six cans of pamplemousse La Croix a day. For my first Mother’s Day, my husband got me a mini-fridge to keep next to my desk, and it’s completely filled with seltzer.
On managing stress:
I don’t do it very well. The four-day workweek is helpful, especially with a toddler. But I usually work on the book I’m writing on Fridays. I read a lot of trashy romance novels — also other books, like Julie Soto’s Not Another Love Song, which was really good; Catherine Newman’s Sandwich, which made me cry; and Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s Long Island Compromise, also excellent. Exercise is also helpful.
On dealing with pushback:
Before we launched, Ross and I did probably a couple dozen calls each with different political operatives and experts, wondering why an organization like ours didn’t exist. I remember one conversation where the person said, “Yeah, it’s a great idea, but you’re never going to be able to do it. No one will want to fund it. No one wants to run for office, and candidate recruitment is really hard. Good luck, and Godspeed.” I think about that a lot and am really glad we didn’t listen.
On modeling maternity leave:
I was the first member of our team to have a baby, and it was important for me to show how to handle it. But I couldn’t find any examples of how bosses did it! So it was hard, but great to be able to hand things off to the senior team. We do 12 weeks of fully paid leave. I ended up taking about 14, because we’re closed the last two weeks of the year. I’m due in October and will probably take about the same time with this daughter. I do expect to work a little right around Election Day — I can’t help myself. Returning to work was hard. The first day we took Jo to day care, she was fine, but I cried. I know it will be the same with this next one.
On co-parenting and dividing household labor:
We don’t have a nanny. Jo goes to day care five days a week, and the new baby will start when she’s old enough. My husband and I usually pick her up together and often go to the playground. My parents moved to New York City during COVID and happened to stay when I got pregnant. So she stayed with them when we went on vacation. I am so lucky to have the best husband. He makes dinner while I give Jo a bath and put her to bed. He cooks mostly every night and handles grocery shopping and meal planning. He also does all of the laundry. We split cleaning pretty evenly, depending on our schedules. We do have a house cleaner who comes once a month and is worth every penny, between the toddler, the dog hair, the kibble, and food everywhere. I tend to make the doctor’s appointments. I would say we’re pretty close to 50-50 partners; maybe he takes on a little bit more than I do.
On unwinding and staying grounded:
My husband is both an incredible cheerleader and also very grounding. Playing with my kid also helps. She’s obsessive about books, which I appreciate. You can’t look at your phone and read to a toddler at the same time — I’ve tried! Depending on the night, I may do more work. I watch a lot of TikToks. I read, but haven’t been watching a ton of TV these days. It’s one of the things that sort of fell off when we had the kid. I try to be asleep by 9:30–10 p.m.
On work-life balance:
I’m ambitious and like big challenges. But I also want a life of joy and to be able to spend time with my kids. When you work on campaigns, especially presidential campaigns, it’s all-consuming. You work from when you open your eyes to when you shut them at three in the morning. I was regularly at the office until two or three in the morning for two years. The same was true for the early days of Run for Something. It took me a couple years to break the habit. I’ve come to believe that while our mission is urgent, and the work we do important, not every task in service of that mission is urgent. Part of that discernment comes with growing as a professional, but having kids absolutely helps.
On making it professionally:
I’ll let you know when I do! I’m only 34; I hope I haven’t peaked. I am really lucky that my career has taken off in a way I didn’t expect. I thought I would be sort of a mid-level to senior-level digital operative. I didn’t really have a plan for if Hillary won or lost. I didn’t expect to start an organization. I didn’t expect to write books. I just thought there was a problem that needed solving, and I wanted to do it. On our first Election Day, I happened to be on a trip to California. Seeing about half the folks we had recruited win, I thought, Oh, this is working. That was the first time I thought maybe we had hit on something big. But it wasn’t a personal accomplishment, or mission accomplished.
